Mobile station, base station, communications system, and communications  method

ABSTRACT

A mobile station includes a radio link control unit for outputting or inputting data that are transmitted or received via a radio channel to or from a higher-level protocol layer, a media access control unit for outputting or inputting the data via a logical channel to or from the radio link control unit, a physical layer control unit for outputting or inputting the data via a transport channel to or from the media access control unit, and for controlling radio communications, and a radio resource control unit for outputting or inputting control data to or from the radio link control unit, media access control unit, and physical layer control unit. The mobile station multiplexes report information therefrom into a channel for packet data transmission so as to transmit it to a base station. The base station carries out assignment of radio resources using the report information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of and claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 U.S.C. § 120 from U.S. application Ser. No. 14/162,522 filedJan. 23, 2014, which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No.13/368,048 filed Feb. 7, 2012 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,675,546 issued Mar.18, 2014), which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/574,518filed Mar. 1, 2007 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,149,765 issued Apr. 3, 2012),the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein byreference. U.S. application Ser. No. 11/574,518 is the national stage ofPCT/JP04/13057 filed Sep. 8, 2004.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a mobile station and a base stationwhich communicate packet data with each other in a CDMA (Code DivisionMultiple Access) mobile communications system, a communications systemwhich communicates packet data, and a communications method ofcommunicating packet data in a CDMA mobile communications system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As a high-speed mobile communications system which adopts a CDMA method,the telecommunications standard called the third generation and referredto as IMT-2000 is adopted by the International Telecommunications Union(ITU). Commercial services based on W-CDMA (FDD: Frequency DivisionDuplex) technology were started in Japan in 2001. A W-CDMA (FDD) systemis a third-generation mobile communications system, and aims atacquiring a transmission rate of up to about 2 Mbps per mobile station.For W-CDMA (FDD) systems, the first specifications were determined inthe 1999 released edition which the standardization organization 3GPP(3rd.Generation Partnership Project) summarized in 1999.

Currently, release 4 and release 5 are defined as other new versions ofrelease 1999, and release 6 is being generated.

In the above-mentioned standards, it is assumed originally that aservice which offers continuous data like voice data is provided. Forthis reason, even when carrying out burst transmission such astransmission of packets from a mobile station to a base station, adedicated channel DCH (Dedicated CHannel) is always ensured, as a radioresource, for each mobile station. This presents a problem from theviewpoint that effective use of radio resources is needed as the use ofpacket data increases in recent years because of the proliferation ofthe Internet.

Furthermore, since transmission of data from a mobile station is carriedout through autonomous transmission control (Autonomous Transmission) bythe mobile station, the timing of transmission by each mobile station isarbitrary or random. Therefore, in a CDMA communications system, sincetransmission from other mobile stations all serves as a source ofinterference, a base station can only predict the amount of interferencenoise at a time of receiving data from each mobile station and theamount of variations in the interference noise amount statistically.Therefore, in the management of radio resources, it is necessary tosuppress the throughput and the mobile station maximum transmission rateby assuming a case in which the amount of variations in the interferencenoise is large, and to carry out control of assignment of radioresources to ensure margins.

Actually, the radio resource management for mobile station transmission(for uplink), which is defined by the W-CDMA standard, is not carriedout by a base station itself, but is carried out by a base stationcontrol apparatus (RNC: Radio Network Controller) which organizes aplurality of base stations. Hereafter, a combination of a base stationand a base station control apparatus will be referred to as a basestation side. It takes a relatively long process time of about severalhundred msec for a base station control apparatus (RNC) to perform eachof management of radio resources on a mobile station and an exchange ofmanagement information with the mobile station. For this reason, aproblem with a base station control apparatus is that it cannot carryout high-speed control of assignment of radio resources while monitoringa high-speed change in the radio propagation environment, the amount ofinterference from other mobile stations, etc.

Nonpatent reference 1 proposes an on-demand channel assignment methodfor uplink as a technology for providing enhancement of uplinkperformance/expansion of functions on the basis of the above-mentionedcurrent standards (releases 1999, 4 and 5).

According to FIG. 1 of nonpatent reference 1, a mobile station (UE: UserEquipment) with packets to be transmitted notifies information (Queuesize) about the amount of data of yet-to-be-transmitted packets andmobile station transmit power margin information (Power Margin), as apacket data transmission request, to a base station (NodeB) via achannel for transmission request (USICCH: Uplink Scheduling InformationControl Channel). The base station which has received this requestnotifies a radio resource assignment result (or a scheduling result),such as a transmission timing, to the mobile station via a downlinkassignment control channel (DSACCH: Downlink Scheduling AssignmentControl Channel). The mobile station transmits packet data to the basestation via a channel for data transmission (EUDCH: Enhanced UplinkDedicated Transport Channel) according to the received schedulingresult. The mobile station transmits information, including informationabout a modulation method at the time of the transmission of packet datato the base station, to the base station via a type-of-modulationinformation channel (UTCCH: Uplink TFRI Control Channel) separately. Thebase station judges whether it has received the packet data correctly,and notifies ACK/NACK indicating the judgment result to the mobilestation via a channel for notification (DANCCH: Downlink Ack/NackControl Channel). Although it can be assumed that these channels are anextension of conventional standard channels or new channels which areintroduced into the system, the details of the channels have not beenproposed yet.

Nonpatent reference 2 proposes a technology generated on the basis ofnonpatent reference 1.

As conventional examples of a technology for notifying information onthe amount of data to be transmitted from a mobile station to a basestation, there are a packet communication method, as disclosed by patentreference 1, of a mobile station notifying the amount of data to betransmitted in response to polling from a base station, a packettransmission method, as disclosed by patent reference 2, of a mobilestation notifying the size of packets to be transmitted to a basestation, and the base station assigning radio resources on the basis ofthe packet size notified thereto, and a method, as disclosed by patentreference 3, of a base station assigning radio resources on the basis ofavailable transmission power, the amount of transmission data, QoS, orthe like notified from a mobile station.

However, patent references 1 to 3, and nonpatent references 1 and 2 donot disclose any concrete method about the format of information ontransmission data at the time of transmission of the information ontransmission data.

According to the conventional W-CDMA standard, when information aboutthe amount of yet-to-be-transmitted data transmitted from a mobilestation is temporarily received by a base station, the information aboutthe amount of yet-to-be-transmitted data is notified to a base stationcontrol apparatus (RNC) juts as it is. For this reason, the base stationcannot grasp the contents of the information about the amount ofyet-to-be-transmitted data. Therefore, the base station cannot implementsuch uplink radio resource control as disclosed in patent references 1to 3 and nonpatent references 1 and 2. Furthermore, according to theconventional W-CDMA standard, there is provided no means for notifyingthe information about the amount of yet-to-be-transmitted data of amobile station from a base station control apparatus to a base station(NodeB). Even if it is possible to provide a means of temporarilysending information which the base station control apparatus hasacquired to the base station, because the transmission period of theamount information of yet-to-be-transmitted data from the mobile stationto the base station control apparatus is set to a long time period suchas 250 ms, 500 ms, . . . , or 6,000 ms, there is a problem that the basestation cannot perform high-speed radio resource control.

Nonpatent reference 3 proposes a technology about the notificationtiming of mobile station information, including amount-of-datainformation about the amount of yet-to-be-transmitted data, and atransmit power margin, which is related to the on-demand channelassignment method disclosed by nonpatent reference 1. In nonpatentreference 3, various transmission methods, such as a periodictransmission method, are shown.

However, only a proposal about the notification timing is disclosed bynonpatent reference 3, and no concrete method about the format ofnotification, transmit channel specification, etc. at the time oftransmission of packets is disclosed by nonpatent reference 3.

Nonpatent reference 2 further discloses, as another on-demand channelassignment method, a method of reporting, as a packet data transmissionrequest, not the above-mentioned amount of yet-to-be-transmitted packetdata of the mobile station, but a transmission rate (Rate Request) whichthe mobile station desires to the base station via an uplink channel(Rate control scheduling). The base station carries out scheduling onthe basis of the transmission transfer rate request from each mobilestation in the cell, and, after that, notifies, as a scheduling result,a grant transmission transfer rate (Rate Grant) to each mobile stationvia a downlink channel. However, nonpatent reference 2 discloses noconcrete method about the format of request, transmit channelspecification, etc at the time of transmission of packet data, likenonpatent reference 1.

The present invention is made in order to solve the above-mentionedproblems, and it is therefore an object of the present invention toprovide a mobile station, a base station, a communications system, and acommunications method which are suitable for a case in which reportinformation from a mobile station which is needed for radio resourcecontrol for uplinks in a base station is notified from the mobilestation directly to the base station at a high speed.

-   [Patent reference 1] JP,64-42951,A-   [Patent reference 2] JP,2002-374321,A-   [Patent reference 3] JP,2003-46482,A-   [Nonpatent reference 1] “AH64: Reducing control channel overhead for    Enhanced Uplink”, [online], Jan. 711, 2003, 3GPPRAN1#30, and    [retrieved on Jan. 7, 2004], the Internet    <URL:http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/tsg_ran/WG1_RL1/TSGR1_30/Docs/Zips/R1-030067.zip>-   [Nonpatent reference 2] “3rd Generation Partnership Project;    Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Feasibility    Study for Enhanced Uplink for UTRA FDD” (Release 6), [online],    2004-3, TR25.896v6.0.0, [retrieved on May 10, 2004], the Internet    <URL:http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/2004-03/Rel-6/25_series/25896-600.zip>-   [Nonpatent reference 3] “Uplink signaling of scheduling    information”, [online], [retrieved on Jan. 7, 2004], the Internet    <URL:http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/tsg_ran/WG1_RL1/TSGR1_34/Docs/Zips/R1-031056.zip>

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a mobilestation provided with a radio link control unit for outputting orinputting data which are transmitted to or received from a base stationvia a radio channel to or from a higher-level protocol layer, a mediaaccess control unit for outputting or inputting the data via a logicalchannel to or from the radio link control unit, a physical layer controlunit for outputting or inputting the data via a transport channel to orfrom the media access control unit, and for controlling radiocommunications with the base station, and a radio resource control unitfor outputting or inputting control data to or from the radio linkcontrol unit, the media access control unit, and the physical layercontrol unit, in which the media access control unit multiplexes reportinformation to be transmitted to the base station into a channel forpacket data transmission so as to transmit the report information to thebase station.

As a result, because uplink radio resource control can be carried out inthe base station and higher-speed control can be carried out as comparedwith radio resource control by a base station control apparatus, theefficiency of a communications system is further improved and thethroughput of the whole cell is improved.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a basestation provided with a radio link control unit for outputting orinputting data which are transmitted to or received from a mobilestation via a radio channel to or from a higher-level protocol layer, amedia access control unit for outputting or inputting the data via alogical channel to or from the radio link control unit, a physical layercontrol unit for outputting or inputting the data via a transportchannel to or from the media access control unit, and for controllingradio communications with the mobile station, and a radio resourcecontrol unit for outputting or inputting control data to or from theradio link control unit, the media access control unit, and the physicallayer control unit, characterized in that the media access control unitcarries out assignment of radio resources using report information whichis multiplexed into data transmitted via a channel for packet datatransmission from the mobile station.

As a result, because uplink radio resource control can be carried out inthe base station and higher-speed control can be carried out as comparedwith radio resource control by a base station control apparatus, theefficiency of a communications system is further improved and thethroughput of the whole cell is improved.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided acommunications system provided with a mobile station and a base station,the mobile station including a radio link control unit for outputting orinputting data which are transmitted or received via a radio channel toor from a higher-level protocol layer, a media access control unit foroutputting or inputting the data via a logical channel to or from theradio link control unit, a physical layer control unit for outputting orinputting the data via a transport channel to or from the media accesscontrol unit, and for controlling radio communications, and a radioresource control unit for outputting or inputting control data to orfrom the radio link control unit, the media access control unit, and thephysical layer control unit, characterized in that the mobile stationmultiplexes report information from the mobile station into a channelfor packet data transmission so as to transmit the report information tothe base station, and the base station carries out assignment of radioresources using the report information from the mobile station.

As a result, because uplink radio resource control can be carried out inthe base station and higher-speed control can be carried out as comparedwith radio resource control by a base station control apparatus, theefficiency of the communications system is further improved and thethroughput of the whole cell is improved.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided acommunications method comprising the steps of: a mobile stationmultiplexing report information therefrom into a channel for packet datatransmission so as to transmit the report information to a base station,the mobile station including a radio link control unit for outputting orinputting data which are transmitted to or received from the basestation via a radio channel to or from a higher-level protocol layer, amedia access control unit for outputting or inputting the data via alogical channel to or from the radio link control unit, a physical layercontrol unit for outputting or inputting the data via a transportchannel to or from the media access control unit, and for controllingradio communications with the base station, and a radio resource controlunit for outputting or inputting control data to or from the radio linkcontrol unit, the media access control unit, and the physical layercontrol unit; and the base station carrying out assignment of radioresources using the report information which it receives from the mobilestation.

As a result, because uplink radio resource control can be carried out inthe base station and higher-speed control can be carried out as comparedwith radio resource control by a base station control apparatus, theefficiency of the communications system is further improved and thethroughput of the whole cell is improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a communicationssystem in accordance with embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of a mobile station inaccordance with embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a multiplexing relationship between channelsin each component of the mobile station in accordance with embodiment 1of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of a radio link controlunit of the mobile station in accordance with embodiment 1 of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the structure of a media accesscontrol unit of the mobile station in accordance with embodiment 1 ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing input/output data transmitted between theradio link control unit and media access control unit of the mobilestation in accordance with embodiment 1 of the present invention at atime of transmission of the data;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the structure of a physical layercontrol unit of the mobile station in accordance with embodiment 1 ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the principle of multiplexing of channels inthe media access control unit and physical layer control unit of themobile station in accordance with embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the structure of a base station side(a base station and a base station control apparatus) in accordance withembodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the structure of a media accesscontrol unit on the base station side in accordance with embodiment 1 ofthe present invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the structure of a physical layercontrol unit on the base station side in accordance with embodiment 1 ofthe present invention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flow of packet transmission from themobile station to the base station in accordance with embodiment 1 ofthe present invention;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the structure of a MAC-e unit of themobile station in accordance with embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the format of MAC-e PDU in accordance withembodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a variant of the format of MAC-e PDU inaccordance with embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the format of MAC-e PDU in accordance withembodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the format of MAC-e PDU in accordance withembodiment 3 of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the format of MAC-e PDU in accordance withembodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the format of MAC-e PDU in accordance withembodiment 5 of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of amedia access control unit of a mobile station in accordance withembodiment 5 of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a flow of setting of parameters inaccordance with embodiments 1 to 5 of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is q diagram showing a flow of transmission of STATUS PDUbetween a base station control apparatus and a mobile station inaccordance with embodiment 6 of the present invention; and

FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing the structure of a media accesscontrol unit of the mobile station in accordance with embodiment 6 ofthe present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Hereafter, in order to explain this invention in greater detail, thepreferred embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a communications system 101 inaccordance with embodiment 1 of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the communications system 101 is provided with amobile station 102, a base station 103, and a base station controlapparatus 104. The base station 103 communicates with two or more mobilestations 102 staying in a fixed range thereof. This communication rangeof this base station 103 is called a sector or cell. Only one mobilestation 102 is shown in the figure.

The base station control apparatus 104 is connected to an externalcommunication network 105, such as a public telephone network or theInternet, and relays packet communications between the base station 103and the communication network 105.

In the W-CDMA standard, the mobile station 102 is called UE (UserEquipment), the base station 103 is called Node-B, and the base stationcontrol apparatus 104 is called RNC (Radio Network Controller).

The mobile station 102 and base station 103 communicate with each otherusing a plurality of radio links (or channels).

Physical control channels (Physical Control Channel) include a DPCCH 106(Dedicated Physical Control CHannel) which is used for uplink from themobile station 102 to the base station 103, and a DPCCH 107 which isused for downlink from the base station 103 to the mobile station 102.Using the DPCCHs 106 and 107, control operations, such as asynchronization control operation for the transmit-and-receive timingbetween the mobile station 102 and the base station 103, are carriedout, and physical radio communications are maintained.

Physical channels for data transmission include a DPDCH (DCH) 108 whichis used for uplink, and a DPDCH (DCH) 109 which is used for downlink.Using the DPDCHs (DCHs) 108 and 109, data which comply with conventionalstandard channels (DCHs) between the mobile station 102 and the basestation 103 are transmitted and received.

A DPDCH (E-DCH)/DPCCH (E-DCH) 110 is a physical channel for datatransmission/physical control channel for transmission which is used fortransmitting data associated with E-DCH, and for transmitting modulationinformation at a time of transmission of E-DCH data in the uplink. DPDCH(E-DCH) and DPCCH (E-DCH) data are transmitted in a pair.

A E-DPCCH 111 is used for downlink when the base station 103 transmits anotification of the result of radio resource assignment or the result(ACK/NACK) of judgment of data reception to the mobile station 102.

In this case, up to six of DPDCH (DCH) 108 and DPDCH (E-DCH) 110 intotal can be transmitted by concurrently using two or more spread codesfor channel separation. It is also possible to use a DPDCH for a certainspread code for channel separation for either DCH or E-DCH.

These channels are channels which are not used in the conventionalstandards, and, when they are set up newly, their formats will beadditionally defined by a new release of the written standard TS25.211while the compatibility (Backward Compatibility) with the conventionalstandards is ensured.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the mobile station102 in accordance with embodiment 1 of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the mobile station 102 is provided with an upperlayer block 201, a radio link control unit 202, a media access controlunit 203, a physical layer control unit 204, an antenna 205, and a radioresource control unit 206.

The input-output relation of each component of the mobile station 102will be explained schematically.

The upper layer block 201 is an upper layer block of the mobile station102, and carries out predetermined processing according to anapplication or using a known technique for a higher-level protocol layersuch as a TCP/IP layer. The upper layer block 201 outputs one or moredata (TXdata) to be transmitted to the base station 103 to the radiolink control unit 202. Similarly, the upper layer block 201 inputs oneor more data (RXdata) received from the base station 103 via the radiolink control unit 202.

The radio link control unit 202 further exchanges data with the mediaaccess control unit 203 via one or more logical channels LOG ch whichare set up between the radio link control unit 202 and the media accesscontrol units 203. The radio link control unit 202 also outputsyet-to-be-transmitted data amount information LOGbuffer indicating theyet-to-be-transmitted data amount of transmit buffer thereof to themedia access control unit 203.

The media access control unit 203 exchanges data with the physical layercontrol unit 204 via one or more transport channels TRch which are setup between the media access control unit 203 and the physical layercontrol units 204.

The physical layer control unit 204 carries out radio communicationswith the base station 103 by transmitting or receiving a radio frequencysignal to or from the base station via the antenna 205.

The radio resource control unit 206 exchanges various pieces of controlinformation UPcont, RLC (Radio Link Control) cont, MAC (Media AccessControl) cont, and PHY (Physical) cont with the upper layer block 201,radio link control unit 202, media access control unit 203, and physicallayer control unit 204, respectively. These pieces of controlinformation are information which is used in known art and informationpeculiar to this embodiment 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram indicating a multiplexing relation between eachblock of the mobile station 102 and each channel which are provided inthis embodiment 1.

Assume that one communication service is carried out in thisembodiment 1. Further assume that transmit and receive data (TXdata andRXdata) for service are assigned to a logical channel DTCH (DedicatedTraffic CHannel).

The transmission data (TXdata) is assigned to the logical channel DTCHin the uplink. DTCH data is assigned to the E-DCH which is a transportchannel. E-DCH data is assigned to the DPDCH (E-DCH) 110 for uplink. Onthe other hand, various pieces of control information to be transmittedfrom the radio resource control unit 206 to the base station controlapparatus 104 via the base station 103 are assigned to a logical channelDCCH (Dedicated Control CHannel) by the radio link control unit 202.DCCH data is assigned to the DCH for uplink. The assignment method ofthis embodiment 1 is only an example, and the assignment is set up inadvance of data communications or in the course of data communications.

The physical layer control unit 204 generates data for the DPCCH 106 andDPCCH (E-DCH) 110 which are channels for uplink control.

On the other hand, data for the DPDCH (DCH) 109 for downlink is assignedto the DCH in the downlink. DCH data is assigned to the DTCH and DCCH.Received data (RXdata) is extracted from the DTCH. The physical layercontrol unit 204 also uses the DPCCH 107 and E-DPCCH 111 for downlink.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the radio linkcontrol unit 202 of the mobile station 102. As shown in the figure, theradio link control unit 202 is provided with a receive buffer 501 a, areceive buffer 501 b, a transmit buffer 502 a, a transmit buffer 502 b,an RLC control unit 503, and a buffer monitoring unit 504.

The input-output relation of each component of the radio link controlunit 202 will be explained schematically.

The receive buffer 501 a inputs the DTCH data from the media accesscontrol unit 203 and also outputs the received data (RXdata) to theupper layer block 201. The receive buffer 501 b inputs the DCCH datafrom the media access control unit 203 and also outputs the controlinformation (RXcontrol) to the RLC control unit 503. The transmit buffer502 a inputs the transmission data (TXdata) from the upper layer block201 and also outputs the DTCH data (RLC PDU) to the media access controlunit 203. The transmit buffer 502 b inputs the control information(TXcontrol) from the RLC control unit 503 and also outputs the DCCH data(RLC PDU) to the media access control unit 203. Each of the transmitbuffers 502 a and 502 b outputs information (Data info) about the amountof data stored therein to the buffer monitoring unit 504.

The buffer monitoring unit 504 outputs the amount-of-data information(DCH LOGbuffer) about the amount of data associated with each logicalchannel which is multiplexed into the DCH, and the amount-of-datainformation (EDCH LOGbuffer) on the amount of data associated with eachlogical channel which is multiplexed into the E-DCH to the media accesscontrol unit 203 on the basis of the amount-of-data information (Datainfo). The reason why the plural pieces of amount-of-data informationare provided is because the amount-of-data information on the logicalchannel currently assigned to the DCH and the amount-of-data informationon the logical channel currently assigned to the E-DCH are transmittedindependently to the media access control unit 203. The function of thusmeasuring the amount-of-data information for each transport channel iscalled Traffic volume measurement in the conventional standards, and isdefined by the written standard TS25.331 and so on. In this embodiment1, the Traffic volume measurement is also applied for the E-DCH, as wellas for the DCH which is a conventional channel.

The RLC control unit 503 controls the whole of the radio link controlunit 202. The RLC control unit 50 further exchanges the controlinformation RLCcont with the radio resource control unit 20. Informationused by known art and information in accordance with the presentinvention are included in the control information RLCcont.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the structure of the media accesscontrol unit 203 of the mobile station 102.

The media access control unit 203 is provided with a receive buffer 601,a receive MAC-d unit 602, a transmit MAC-d unit 603, a transmit buffer604 a, a buffer 604 b for E-DCH, a MAC-e unit 605, a MAC control unit607, and a traffic measuring unit 608.

The MAC-e unit 605 is provided with an amount-of-data information unit606 and a control information multiplexing unit 610.

The input-output relation of each component of the media access controlunit 203 will be explained schematically.

The receive buffer 601 inputs the DCH data from the physical layercontrol unit 204 and also outputs the received DCH data to the receiveMAC-d unit 602. The receive MAC-d unit 602 demultiplexes the dataassociated with the logical channels DTCH and DCCH which are multiplexedinto the inputted DCH using a known technique, and outputs them to thereceive buffers 501 a and 501 b of the radio link control unit 202,respectively. The transmit MAC-d unit 603 multiplexes or distributes thedata associated with the logical channels DTCH and DCCH using a knowntechnique, and outputs them to the transmit buffer 604 a as DCH data orto the MAC-e unit 605 as MAC-d flow data (MAC-d PDU). The trafficmeasuring unit 608 inputs the amount-of-data information DCH LOGbufferand amount-of-data information EDCH LOGbuffer from the radio linkcontrol unit 202. The traffic measuring unit 608 also outputs trafficreport information (Traffic Report) to the MAC control unit 607 in orderto notify the amount-of-data information to the base station controlapparatus 104 via the base station 103.

The MAC-e unit 605 inputs the MAC-d flow data from the transmit MAC-dunit 603 and also outputs the E-DCH data (MAC-e PDU) to the buffer 604 bfor E-DCH. Furthermore, the MAC-e unit 605 inputs the E-DCHamount-of-data information (EDCH LOGbuffer) from the radio link controlunit 202 to the amount-of-data information unit 606, and outputs secondamount-of-data information (TRbuffer) from the amount-of-datainformation unit 606 to the control information multiplexing unit 610.The details of the operation of the MAC-e unit 605 will be explainedbelow.

The MAC control unit 607 controls the whole of the media access controlunit 203. Simultaneously, the MAC control unit 607 exchanges controlinformation (MACcont) including information required for known art andinformation required for the present invention with the radio resourcecontrol unit 206.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing input/output data transmitted between theradio link control unit 202 and media access control unit 203 of themobile station 102 at a time of transmission of the data. Hereafter,data associated with the E-DCH will be explained, and the explanation ofdata associated with the DCH will be omitted because it is not relateddirectly with the present invention.

In the media access control unit 203, the MAC-d unit 603 is a portionwhich complies with the conventional standards. Furthermore, the MAC-eunit 605 is a portion associated with the E-DCH.

When the transmission data (TXdata) are furnished from the upper layerblock 201 to the radio link control unit 202, they are outputted to themedia access control unit 203 as DTCH data after being subjected tovarious processings. After the DTCH data inputted to the media accesscontrol unit 203 are inputted to the MAC-d unit 603 in the media accesscontrol unit 203, they are inputted to the MAC-e unit 605 as MAC-d flowafter being subjected to various processings. Next, the MAC-d flow data(MAC-d PDU) inputted to the MAC-e unit 605 are outputted, as E-DCH data,from the MAC-e unit 605 after being subjected to various processings.

The data inputted to the radio link control unit 202 are called RLC SDU(Service Data Unit) in the radio link control unit 202. The dataoutputted from the radio link control unit 202 are called RLC PDU(Protocol Data Unit) in the radio link control unit 202.

The data inputted to the MAC-d unit 603 are called MAC-d SDU in theMAC-d unit 603. The data outputted from the MAC-d unit 603 are calledMAC-d PDU in the MAC-d unit 603.

The data inputted to the MAC-e unit 605 are called MAC-e SDU in theMAC-e unit 605. The data outputted from the MAC-e unit 605 are calledMAC-e PDU in the MAC-e unit 605.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the structure of the physical layercontrol unit 204 of the mobile station 102. The physical layer controlunit 204 is provided with a receiving unit 701, a demodulating unit 702,a demultiplexing unit 703, a multiplexing unit 704, a modulating unit705, a transmitting unit 706, a PHY control unit 707, and an antenna205.

The input-output relation of each component of the physical layercontrol unit 204 will be explained schematically.

The receiving unit 701 converts a radio frequency signal received, viathe antenna 205, from the base station 103 into a baseband signal usinga known technique, and then outputs it to the demodulating unit 702. Thedemodulating unit 702 demodulates the baseband signal outputted from thereceiving unit 701 using a known technique, and then outputs dataassociated with physical channels DPDCH, DPCCH, and E-DPCCH for downlinkto the demultiplexing unit 703. The demultiplexing unit 703demultiplexes the inputted DPDCH, DPCCH, and E-DPCCH into DCH data anddata associated with the physical control channels DPCCH and E-DPCCHusing a known technique. The demultiplexing unit 703 further outputs theDCH data and E-DPCCH data to the media access control unit 203 and alsooutputs the DPCCH data to the PHY control unit 707. In this embodiment1, assume that the DCH is an only transport channel which is multiplexedinto the receive DPDCH.

On the other hand, the multiplexing unit 704 inputs the uplink DCH dataand E-DCH data from the media access control unit 203. The multiplexingunit 704 inputs the uplink DPCCH data and DPCCH (E-DCH) data from thePHY control unit 707. The multiplexing unit 704 carries out multiplexingof the inputted various channel data using a known technique, andoutputs them to the modulating unit 705 as data associated with thetransmit physical channels DPDCH, DPCCH, and DPCCH (E-DCH). Themodulating unit 705 modulates the inputted data associated with thetransmit physical channels DPDCH, DPCCH, and DPCCH (E-DCH) using a knowntechnique, and then outputs the modulated data to the transmitting unit706 as a transmission baseband signal.

In this embodiment 1, the DPDCH, DPCCH, and DPCCH (E-DCH) data arecode-multiplexed using different spread codes, respectively, and themultiplexing method itself is not limited to the one shown in thisembodiment 1.

The transmitting unit 706 converts the inputted baseband signal into aradio frequency signal using a known technique. The converted radiofrequency signal is transmitted to the base station 103 via the antenna205. The PHY control unit 707 controls the whole of the physical layercontrol unit 204. The PHY control unit 707 exchanges the controlinformation PHYcont including information required for known art andinformation required for the present invention with the radio resourcecontrol units 206.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a multiplexing relation between thetransport channels and the physical channels in the uplink in accordancewith embodiment 1, and the principle of the channel multiplexing. Theprinciple of similar channel multiplexing is defined by the writtenstandard TS25.213. This multiplexing processing is carried out by thephysical layer control unit 204 of the mobile station 102.

In the figure, each of DPDCH1 to DPDCH6 corresponds to the DPDCH (DCH)108 or DPDCH (E-DCH) 110. HS-DPCCH is a physical channel additionallyprovided by release 5, and because it is not related to the presentinvention, the explanation of the channel will be omitted hereafter. Cdis a spread code for channel separation for DPDCH (DCH). Cc is a spreadcode for channel separation for DPCCH. CT is a spread code for channelseparation for DPCCH (E-DCH). Chs is a spread code for channelseparation for HS-DPCCH. Ceu is a spread code for channel separation forDPDCH (E-DCH). βd is a signal amplitude coefficient for DPDCH (DCH). βcis a signal amplitude coefficient for DPCCH. βhs is a signal amplitudecoefficient for HS-DPCCH. βT is a signal amplitude coefficient for DPCCH(E-DCH). βeu is a signal amplitude coefficient for DPDCH (E-DCH).Sdpch,n is a scramble code for mobile station identification.

DPDCH1, DPDCH3, DPDCH5, and DPCCH (E-DCH) data are multiplied by theirrespective spread codes for channel separation and signal amplitudecoefficients, and, after that, the multiplication results are summed byan adder (Σ) for I-axis. On the other hand, DPDCH2, DPDCH4, DPDCH6,DPCCH, and HS-DPCCH data are multiplied by their respective spread codesfor channel separation and signal amplitude coefficients, and, afterthat, the multiplication results are summed by an adder (Σ) for Q-axis.The outputs of the adders are the I component and Q component of acomplex signal (=I+jQ).

Next, the sum of DPDCH2, DPDCH4, DPDCH6, DPCCH, and HS-DPCCH data whichis acquired by the adder for Q-axis is multiplied by the imaginarynumber j so that the sum is assigned to the Q-axis side of the complexsignal. This shows that the sum is actually processed as the Q componentof the complex signal in the mobile station 102.

After that, the sum is added to the other sum of the DPDCH1, DPDCH3,DPDCH5 and DPCCH (E-DCH) data which is acquired by the adder for I-axisby an adder (+). As a result, a so-called complex signal into which thechannel data are IQ-multiplexed is generated. Next, the complex signalwhich the channel data are IQ-multiplexed is multiplied by the scramblecode Sdpch,n for mobile station identification by a multiplier (x). Thegenerated signal is transmitted by radio from the physical layer controlunit 204 to the base station 103 via the antenna 205. As newspecifications (for E-DCH) are added, specifications different fromthose of the conventional standards may be defined for the spread codesfor channel separation and the signal amplitude coefficients in a newversion of the standards. For example, as a result of additionallycode-multiplexing the DPDCH for E-DCH, when the PAR (Peak to Average) ofthe multiplexed signal increases, the increase in PAR can be eased bychanging the spread codes for channel separation and the signalamplitude coefficients.

Next, the structure of the base station side will be explained. The basestation side includes the base station 103 and the base station controlapparatus 104. Because the fundamental structure of the base stationside is much the same as that of the mobile station 102 in which theuplink related block and the downlink related link block areinterchanged, blocks different from those of the mobile station 102 willbe explained below.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the structure of the base station side(the base station 103 and base station control apparatus 104). As shownin the figure, the base station side is provided with an upper layerblock 1201, a radio link control unit 1202, a media access control unit1203, a physical layer control unit 1204, an antenna 1205, and a radioresource control unit 1206. The media access control unit 1203 isprovided with a MAC-e unit 1220 according to this embodiment of thepresent invention, and a MAC-d unit 1221 according to the conventionalstandards.

While the mobile station 102 has all the blocks thereof therein, all theblocks on the base station side are distributed between the base stationcontrol apparatus 104 and base station 103. The method of distributingall the blocks between the base station control apparatus and basestation depends on the implementation of these apparatus. In thisembodiment 1, the upper layer block 1201, radio link control unit 1202,and radio resource control unit 1206 are arranged in the base stationcontrol apparatus 104.

The media access control unit 1203 is distributed between the basestation control apparatus 104 and base station 103. The physical layercontrol unit 1204 is arranged in the base station 103. Since thestructures and operations of the upper layer block unit 1201, radio linkcontrol unit 102, and radio resource control unit 1206 are the same asthose of the mobile station 102, respectively, the explanation of thesecomponents will be omitted hereafter.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the structure of the media accesscontrol unit 1203 on the base station side. As shown in the figure, themedia access control unit 1203 is provided with a MAC-e unit 1220, areceive MAC-d unit 1221-1, a transmit MAC-d unit 1221-2, a receivebuffer 1601 a, a buffer 1601 b for E-DCH, a transmit buffer 1604, and aMAC control unit 1607.

Next, the input-output relation of each component of the media accesscontrol unit 1203 will be explained schematically.

The operation of each of the receive MAC-d unit 1221-1, transmit MAC-dunit 1221-2, receive buffer 1601 a, buffer 1601 b for E-DCH, transmitbuffer 1604, and MAC control unit 1607 is the same as that of acorresponding unit of a structure in which the uplink block and thedownlink block are interchanged, and the MAC-e unit 605 is omitted inthe media access control unit 203 of the mobile station 102, theexplanation of the operation will be omitted hereafter.

The MAC-e unit 1220 inputs both a reception judgment result ACK/NACKfrom the physical layer control unit 1204 and report informationTRbuffer notified from the mobile station 102. The MAC-e unit 1220 alsocarries out radio resource control about the uplink E-DCH, i.e., carriesout scheduling. The MAC-e unit 1220 further outputs the downlink E-DPCCHto the physical layer control unit 1204.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the structure of the physical layercontrol unit 1204 on the base station side. As shown in the figure, thephysical layer control unit 1204 is provided with a receiving unit 1701,a demodulating unit 1702, a demultiplexing unit 1703, a multiplexingunit 1704, a modulating unit 1705, a transmitting unit 1706, a PHYcontrol unit 1707, and an antenna 1205.

Next, the input-output relation of each component of the physical layercontrol unit 1204 will be explained.

Because the operation of each of the antenna 1205, receiving unit 1701,demodulating unit 1702, modulating unit 1705, and transmitting unit 1706is the same as that of the corresponding component of the mobile station102, the explanation of the operation will be omitted hereafter.

The demultiplexing unit 1703 inputs demodulated data from thedemodulating unit 1702 via the uplink physical channels DPDCH and DPCCH.The demultiplexing unit 1703 also demultiplexes the uplink DPDCH datainto received DCH data and received E-DCH data using a known technique.The demultiplexing unit 1703 further outputs a reception judgment resultACK/NACK for the E-DCH data to the Mac-e unit 1220 of the MAC unit 1203.The demultiplexing unit 1703 also outputs the demultiplexed reportinformation TRbuffer to the MAC-e unit 1220. The demultiplexing unit1703 further outputs the demultiplexed uplink DPCCH data to the PHYcontrol unit 1707.

The multiplexing unit 1704 carries out multiplexing of the downlink DCHdata from the transmit buffer 1604, the downlink E-DPCCH data from theMAC-e unit 1220, and the downlink DPCCH data from the PHY control unit1707 using a known technique, and outputs them to the modulating unit1705.

Next, the operation of transmission of packets via the uplink will beexplained.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flow of transmission of packets from themobile station to the base station in accordance with embodiment 1.

Hereafter, because the explanation of the DPCCH 106 which is a physicalcontrol channel defined by the conventional standard is unnecessary, theexplanation of the DPCCH 106 will be omitted. Furthermore, because thetransmission of the DCH data from the base station 103 is not a matterpeculiar to the present invention, the explanation of the transmissionof the DCH data will be omitted hereafter.

First, in step ST200, the mobile station 102 measures the amount(Measurement) of yet-to-be-transmitted data as a piece of statusinformation of the mobile station 102 (in step ST200).

Targets to be measured can include the amount of data stored in eachbuffer of the radio link control unit 202, the amount of data stored ineach buffer of the media access control unit 203, and the amounts ofyet-to-be-transmitted data organized according to priorities assigned tothe yet-to-be-transmitted data. Furthermore, when the mobile station hasa retransmission control function ARQ (Automatic Repeat reQuest), thetargets to be measured can include the amounts of data organizedaccording to priorities about retransmission control. In this embodiment1, as the report information (TRbuffer) which the mobile station 102notifies to the base station 103 for the scheduling, the amount of datastored in each of the transmit buffers 502 a and 502 b of the radio linkcontrol unit 202 is used.

As an alternative, as the status information of the mobile station 102,there can be provided transmit power from the mobile station 102 (i.e.,the total transmit power of the mobile station or the transmit power ofa specific channel) or its statistic value, a transmit power margin orits statistic value, the priority of the yet-to-be-transmitted data orits statistic value, and a transmission rate or its statistic value.These quantities can be measured at the same time when theabove-mentioned measurement of the amount of yet-to-be-transmitted datais performed, or can be measured at a different time.

The operation of the mobile station 102 in step ST200 will be explainedin detail.

First, when a communication service occurs in the upper layer block 201,data for the service is stored in the transmit buffer 502 a of the radiolink control unit 202 as transmission data (TXdata). After that, thedata stored in the transmit buffer 502 a is outputted to the transmitMAC-d unit 603 of the media access control unit 203 as transmission dataassociated with the logical channel DTCH. Various pieces of well-knowntransmission control information (TXcontrol) about the communicationservice are stored in the transmit buffer 502 b. The pieces oftransmission control information (TXcontrol) stored in the transmitbuffer 502 b are outputted from the transmit buffer 502 b to thetransmit MAC-d unit 603 of the media access control unit 203 as logicalchannel DCCH data for control.

In each of the transmit buffers 502 a and 502 b of the radio linkcontrol unit 202, a sequential number TSN (Transmission SequentialNumber) is added to each transmission unit quantity of each logicalchannel data. This addition of the sequential number makes it possibleto judge whether a lack occurs in some of the data due to communicationerrors, or whether the data reach the base station 103 in the correctorder. Furthermore, the addition of the sequential number makes itpossible for the base station 103 to reconstruct the data sequence onthe basis of the number. As an alternative, the addition of TSN can beperformed by the transmit MAC-d unit 603 of the media access controlunit 203. Whether the addition of TSN is performed by either the radiolink control unit or the media access control unit will be defined bystandards. In accordance with the present invention, either one of themcan implement the addition of TSN.

From each of the transmit buffers 502 a and 502 b, the amount-of-datainformation indicating the amount of data stored in each buffer (Datainfo) is outputted to the buffer monitoring unit 504. This notificationcan be carried out at regular intervals, when the amount of data varies,at another timing, or when a certain condition is satisfied. Thecondition is beforehand set up in the mobile station 102 by the radioresource control unit 206 on the basis of an exchange of informationwith the base station side before the communications are started.

The buffer monitoring unit 504 groups the inputted amount-of-datainformation (Data info) into the amount-of-data information fortransport channel DCH and the amount-of-data information for E-DCH. Thegrouped pieces of amount-of-data information (Data info) are outputtedas DCH data information (DCH LOGbuffer) and E-DCH data information (EDCHLOGbuffer) for each logical channel.

The pieces of data information (DCH LOGbuffer and EDCH LOGbuffer)outputted from the buffer monitoring unit 504 are outputted to thetraffic measuring unit 608 in the media access control unit 203, and theamount-of-data information unit 606 in the MAC-e unit 605, respectively.The above-mentioned transmit and receive of information among the radiolink control unit 202 and media access control units 203, and physicallayer control unit 204 is called primitive.

The traffic measuring unit 608 calculates the sum total of the amountsof data associated with the logical channels currently assigned to theDCH which is a conventional channel, and the sum total of the amounts ofdata associated with the logical channels currently assigned to theE-DCH which is a channel according to the present invention on the basisof EDCH LOGbuffer and DCH LOGbuffer. This function is an extension of atraffic measurement report function (Traffic volume measurement) ofreporting measurement results to the base station control apparatus 104,which is defined by the conventional standard. A measuring period, ameasuring method, and report conditions about the E-DCH data informationare defined by TS25.331, and can be set up by the base station controlapparatus 104 at the time when the communications are started. Themeasuring period, measuring method, report conditions, etc. can be setup differently for each logical channel and for each transport channel.

Next, each calculated sum total of the amounts of data is outputted tothe MAC control unit 607 according to the report conditions set up forthe traffic report (Traffic Report) which is notified to the basestation control apparatus 104.

The MAC control unit 607 transfers the traffic report (Traffic Report)to the radio resource control unit 206. The radio resource control unit206 reports the traffic report (Traffic Report) transferred thereto tothe base station control apparatus 104 via the radio link control unit202, media access control unit 203, physical layer control unit 204, andantenna 205 of the mobile station 102, and the base station 103.

The amount-of-data information unit 606 converts the E-DCH datainformation (EDCH LOGbuffer) inputted thereto into information in thedata format of the report information (TRbuffer) to notify it to thebase station 103 using a known technique, and outputs it to the controlinformation multiplexing unit 610. The sum total of the amounts of data,the amounts of data organized according to buffers, the amounts of dataorganized according to channels, the amounts of data organized accordingto priorities assigned to the data, or the like can be provided as thereport information (TRbuffer), as in the case of the traffic measurementreport function (Traffic volume measurement) of notifying measurementresults to the base station control apparatus 104. What type of dataformat is used can be determined by, for example, the written standardTS25.331. In this embodiment 1, the amounts of data organized accordingto logical channels currently assigned to the E-DCH are used as thereport information.

Next, in step ST201, the mobile station 102 transmits a request forassignment of the radio resource for uplink to the base station 103.

Hereafter, the operation of the mobile station 102 in step ST201 will beexplained.

First, the report information (TRbuffer) outputted from theamount-of-data information unit 606 to the control informationmultiplexing unit 610 is multiplexed with the uplink MAC-d flow data(MAC-d PDU) using a known technique, and is then outputted to the MAC-eunit 605. After that, the report information multiplexed with the uplinkMAC-d flow data is outputted from the MAC-e unit 605 to the buffer 604 bfor E-DCH as E-DCH data (MAC-e PDU). The control informationmultiplexing unit 610 carries out the multiplexing processing by addingthe various pieces of information from the MAC-e unit 605, as a header,to the uplink MAC-d flow data. Actually, there may be a case in whichthere is no MAC-d flow data to be transmitted.

Next, the multiplexed E-DCH data are outputted from the buffer 604 b forE-DCH to the multiplexing unit 704. The E-DCH data inputted to themultiplexing unit 704 are multiplexed using a known technique, and areoutputted to the modulating unit 705 as DPDCH data.

The uplink DPCCH data and DPCCH (E-DCH) data are outputted from the PHYcontrol unit 707, respectively, and are code-multiplexed with DPDCH databy the multiplexing unit 704, and are then outputted to the modulatingunit 705.

When there is no MAC-e SDU data, the DPCCH (E-DCH) data is not outputtedfrom the PHY control unit 707.

Next, the DPDCH data, DPCCH data, and DPCCH (E-DCH) data inputted to themodulating unit 705 are modulated using a known technique. After eachmodulated data is processed by the transmitting unit 706, it istransmitted by radio to the base station 103 via the antenna 205.

Other mobile station information including transmit power margininformation (Power margin) disclosed in nonpatent reference 1 inrelation to a channel USICCH for transmission request can be included inthe DPDCH (E-DCH) 110 in addition to the report information (TRbuffer).What type of information is transmitted simultaneously with the reportinformation (TRbuffer) depends upon both the structure of a schedulermounted in the MAC-e unit 1220 of the base station 103, and the radioresource management method, and the details of what type of informationis transmitted simultaneously with the report information will bedefined by the written standard TS25.331 (RRC signaling).

When multiplexing the report information (TRbuffer) included in theE-DCH data (MAC-e PDU) into the DPDCH (E-DCH) 110, the mobile station102 can convert the report information into information in a certainexpression form, such as 1. an amount of data (bit number), 2. an indexindicating a combination of amounts of data, 3. a buffer occupationratio (%), 4. an index indicating a combination of buffer occupationratios, 5. a statistic of the amount of data or buffer occupation ratio,6. an index of the statistic, 7. a change in the amount of data, 8. anindex indicating the change in the amount of data, 9. a threshold of theamount of data to be reported, 10. an index of the threshold, 11. anamount of increase or decrease, 12. an index of the amount of increaseor decrease, 13. a requested transmission rate converted based on theamount of data, 14. an index of the requested transmission rate, or 15.a predicted transmission rate converted based on the amount of data. Themultiplexing processing is defined by the written standard TS25.212, anda correspondence between the amount-of-data information and the indexwill be defined by the written standard TS25.214.

Next, the operation of receiving the DPDCH (E-DCH) 110 of the basestation 103 will be explained.

The uplink DPDCH (E-DCH) 110 data received via the antenna 1205 isprocessed by the receiving unit 1701, demodulating unit 1702, anddemultiplexing unit 1703 using a known technique, respectively. Upperlayer data (MAC-e SDU) demultiplexed from the DPDCH (E-DCH) data isoutputted, as E-DCH data, from the demultiplexing unit 1703 to thebuffer 1601 b for E-DCH.

The report information (TRbuffer) is also demultiplexed from theinputted data by the demultiplexing unit 1703, and is inputted to theMAC-e unit 1220.

Next, in step ST202, the MAC-e unit 1220 of the base station 103 carriesout assignment (scheduling) of the radio resource for uplink to themobile station 102.

The scheduling operation of the base station 103 in step ST202 will beexplained.

The MAC-e unit 1220 measures and predicts an increase in the power(Noise Rise) which is caused by the transmission of packets from themobile station 102, and carries out uplink scheduling so that the sumtotal of the increase falls within the reception power margin value ofthe base station 103. Information which can be used when the schedulingis carried out includes: 1. the type and QoS of the communicationservice of the mobile station 102; 2. the setup of the transmissionrate; 3. the communication environment; 4. the amount of data receivedby the base station; 5. the amount-of-data information about the amountof data of the mobile station 102; 6. the uplink quality (pass loss),etc. Which information is used depends on the implementation of thescheduler.

As the scheduling method, any of the following methods: 1. a method ofgiving a higher priority to a mobile station 102 having a larger amountof yet-to-be-transmitted packets; 2. a method of giving a higherpriority to a mobile station 102 having a transmission power margin; 3.a method of assigning the radio resource to mobile stations in orderthat they have transmitted a request for permission to transmit packetsto the base station; 4. a method of assigning the radio source to themobile stations 102 in the decided order (the method is called RoundRobin); 5. a method of assigning the radio resource to a mobile station102 with a little propagation loss or having a good communicationenvironment with little interference on a priority basis (the method iscalled Max C/I); 6. a method intermediate between Round Robin and MaxC/I (the method is called Proportional Fairness); 7. a method of givinga higher priority to a mobile station 102 having data with a higherpriority; 8. a method of assigning the radio resource to the mobilestations so that a delay which occurs in transmission of data from eachmobile station 102 to the party at the other end of the communications(for example, a computer connected to another communication network 105)is shortened; 9. a combination of two or more of the various methods 1to 8, etc. can be applied to the scheduling. The base station andcommunications system are designed and chosen so that the throughput ofthe whole cell is maximized.

Any of the following various methods of selecting a channel on which thescheduling is to be performed: 1. a method of selecting only E-DCH, andcontrolling DCH by means of the base station control apparatus 104 asusual; 2. a method of controlling channels including DCH according torestrictions on the control operation of the prior art base stationcontrol apparatus 104; 3. a method of controlling channels including DCHin cooperation with the base station control apparatus 104; 4. a methodof selecting the logical channels assigned to E-DCH as channels on whichthe scheduling is to be performed, etc. can be applied to thescheduling. The base station and communications system are designed andchosen so that the throughput of the whole cell is maximized.

Any of the following expression forms of the scheduling result: 1. amaximum transmission rate; 2. total power or channel power; 3. a poweroffset; 4. a signal amplitude coefficient for DPDCH (or a gain factor);5. a timing or period; 6. a power margin; 7. an index of variousformats; 8. a combination of some formats; 9. a change in the number ofvarious formats can be applied to the scheduling, etc. In this case, anoverhead of communications due to a required bit number and so on aretaken into consideration. The details of the expression forms aredefined by the written standard TS25.214 and so on. In this embodiment1, a maximum allowable transmission rate is used as the format of thescheduling result, and is notified to the mobile station 102.

Next, in step ST203, the scheduling result information (Scheinfo) isnotified from the base station 103 to the mobile station 102 via thedownlink E-DPCCH 111.

The transmitting operation of the base station 103 in step ST203 will beexplained.

First, the maximum allowable transmission rate information which is thescheduling result information is outputted, as E-DPCCH 111 data, fromthe MAC-e unit 1220 to the multiplexing unit 1704. The E-DPCCH, DCH, andDPCCH data are multiplexed by the multiplexing unit 1704 using a knowntechnique, and are further transmitted by radio via the modulating unit1705, transmitting unit 1706, and antenna 1205.

At this time, there may be no DCH (or DPDCH) data which should betransmitted actually. For example, there can be a case in which there isno service data (TXdata) which should be transmitted from the basestation 103 at the time when the communication service is started, and acase in which only a notification of the scheduling result is carriedout.

Next, the receiving operation of the mobile station 102 in step ST203will be explained.

The downlink E-DPCCH 111 data received by the antenna 205 are processedby the receiving unit 701, demodulating unit 702, and demultiplexingunit 703, and are then inputted to the MAC-e unit 605 as the schedulingresult information (E-DPCCH data).

Next, in step ST204, the mobile station 102 transmits packet data viathe DPDCH(E-DCH)/DPCCH(E-DCH) 110 on the basis of the scheduling resultinformation notified thereto from the base station 103.

The transmitting operation of the mobile station 102 in step ST204 willbe explained.

The MAC-e unit 605 determines the amount of transmission data which themobile station can transmit (or the transmission rate at which themobile station can transmit packet data) within the limit of the maximumallowable transmission rate which is notified thereto from the basestation 103, and outputs yet-to-be-transmitted data to the buffer 604 bfor E-DCH as E-DCH data. At this time, the MAC-e unit 605 controls theoutput timing, i.e., the transmission timing at which the mobile station102 transmits packet data. The control of the transmission timing can becarried out using any of the following methods: 1. a method ofcontrolling the transmission timing on the basis of the schedulingperformed by the base station 103 (Time&Rate control); 2. a method ofcontrolling the transmission timing on the basis of autonomoustransmission by the mobile station 102 (Autonomous control); and 3. amethod of controlling the transmission timing on the basis ofprobability (Persistence control), etc., and the control of thetransmission timing depends on the scheduling method which the MAC-eunit 605 uses. The control operation will be defined by, for example,the written standard TS25.214.

The E-DCH data stored in the buffer 604 b for E-DCH is outputted to themultiplexing unit 704, and is multiplexed with data associated withother channels. The multiplexing unit 704 determines the modulatingmethod etc. based on the amount of the inputted E-DCH data, and outputsinformation about them to the modulating unit 705 as DPCCH (E-DCH) data.The determination of the modulating method can be carried out by theMAC-e unit 605, and depends on how the mobile station 102 isimplemented. In the case in which the MAC-e unit 605 determines themodulating method, the scheduling information is sent, as primitive (notshown), from the media access control unit 203 to the physical layercontrol unit 204.

Each channel data multiplexed by the multiplexing unit 704 is processedby the modulating unit 705 and transmitting unit 706 using a knowntechnique, and is transmitted by radio, as radio transmission data(Data), from the antenna 205 to the base station 103 via the DPDCH(E-DCH) 110. The report information (TRbuffer) is included in the radiotransmission data (Data) transmitted to the base station.

In this embodiment 1, the report information (TRbuffer) is transmittedto the base station in step ST201. As an alternative, when transmittingpacket data in step ST204, the report information (TRbuffer) can also betransmitted simultaneously.

The receiving operation of the base station 103 in step ST204 will beexplained.

The radio transmission data (Data) received via the antenna 1205 isprocessed by the receiving unit 1701, demodulating unit 1702, anddemultiplexing unit 1703 using a known technique, and is demodulated anddemultiplexed into data associated with channels. The demultiplexingunit 1703 judges whether it has received E-DCH data correctly. When thereception judgment result indicates O.K., the demultiplexing unit sendsan ACK signal to the MAC-e unit 1220, and also outputs the receivedupper layer data to the buffer 1601 b for E-DCH as E-DCH data. The E-DCHdata inputted to the buffer 160 b for E-DCH is sent to the upper layerblock 1201 after being processed by each component of the radio linkcontrol unit 1202. In contrast, when the reception judgment resultindicates NG, the demultiplexing unit sends a NACK signal the MAC-e unit1220 and cancels the received data. When the reception judgment resultindicates NG, it is also possible for the base station to wait forretransmission of the data from the mobile station 102 and to combinethe previously-received data and the data retransmitted thereto. In thiscase, the previously-received data are held temporarily.

Next, in step ST205, the reception judgment result (ACK/NACK) from thebase station 103 to the mobile station 102 is notified to the mobilestation 102 via the downlink E-DPCCH 111.

The transmitting operation of the base station 103 in step ST205 will beexplained.

The reception judgment result (ACK/NACK) is outputted from the MAC-eunit 1220 to the multiplexing unit 1704 as E-DPCCH data. After that, thereception judgment result is processed by the multiplexing unit 1704,modulating unit 1705, and transmitting unit 1706 using a knowntechnique, and is then transmitted by radio as downlink E-DPCCH 111data. After the multiplexing is performed, the processing is carried outas in the case of step ST203.

Next, the receiving operation of the mobile station 102 in step ST205will be explained.

The E-DPCCH 111 data received by the antenna 205 is processed by thereceiving unit 701, demodulating unit 702, and demultiplexing unit 703using a known technique, and is then inputted to the MAC-e unit 605 asE-DPCCH data.

The MAC-e unit 605 analyzes the reception judgment result (ACK/NACK)included in the E-DPCCH data, and determines whether to retransmit thepacket data or transmit new data (retransmission control). The MAC-eunit 605 outputs the E-DCH data to the buffer 604 b for E-DCH.

The buffer 604 b for E-DCH transmits the E-DCH data to the base station103 as radio transmission data (Data) via the multiplexing unit 704,modulating unit 705, transmitting unit 706, and antenna 205. That is,the mobile station shifts to step ST204. The operation of the MAC-e unit605 at the time of the retransmission control will be explained below.

As mentioned above, the base station 103 carries out the scheduling forpacket data transmission via the uplink on the basis of the reportinformation (TRbuffer) transmitted from the mobile station 102 directlyto the base station 103.

In this embodiment 1, among the series of steps (steps ST200 to ST205)required to transmit packet data from the mobile station 102, the cyclefor scheduling which consists of steps ST203 and ST201 and the cycle forpacket data transmission which consists of steps ST204 and ST205 arecarried out continuously. As an alternative, the two cycles can becarried out independently.

The amount-of-data measuring step ST200 in the mobile station 102 canalso be carried out in a different cycle from the series of cycles. Inthis case, the report information (TRbuffer) at the time before stepST201 is started can be used when the scheduling is carried out.

Next, the retransmission control processing carried out by the MAC-eunit 605 of the mobile station 102 will be explained.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the structure of the MAC-e unit 605 whichis related to the retransmission control. As shown in the figure, theMAC-e unit 605 is provided with a retransmission control unit 650, andthe retransmission control unit 650 includes a selector 651 and buffers6521 to 652M for retransmission.

Any of various known techniques can be applied as a retransmissioncontrol method which the mobile station 102 uses. In this embodiment 1,the mobile station carries out the retransmission control by means of achannel parallel connection type Stop&Wait method (referred to as anM-channel Stop&Wait method from here on) which is disclosed by release 5of the written standard. According to this method, M individualretransmission cycles are carried out using a time multiplexingtechnique.

The MAC-d flow data inputted to the MAC-e unit 605 (MAC-e SDU) is storedin one of the buffers 6521, 6522, . . . , and 652M for retransmission bythe selector 651 of the retransmission control unit 650 on the basis ofa quality request (QoS) to the data service, the priorities of thelogical channels, or the like. The selector 651 adds an index (QueueID:1to M) to the head of the inputted MAC-d flow data (MAC-e SDU) in orderto distinguish among the buffers for retransmission.

According to the transmission timing control by the MAC-e unit 605, onebuffer is selected from among the buffers 6521, 6522, . . . , and 652Mfor retransmission, and the stored data is outputted to the controlinformation multiplexing unit 610.

The data inputted to the control information multiplexing unit 610 ismultiplexed by the control information multiplexing unit 610 with thereport information (TRbuffer), and is then outputted to the buffer 604 bfor E-DCH as E-DCH data (MAC-e PDU). Subsequent processing is the sameas that of step ST204 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the format of the MAC-e PDU outputted fromthe MAC-e unit 605 in accordance with embodiment 1. In the figure, (a)shows the format of the MAC-e PDU, and (b), (c), and (d) show examplesof a VF value which is an identifier at the time of using this format,and the definition of the VF value.

QueueID is the index of one of the buffers 6521 to 652M forretransmission. D1 to DN are report information (TRbuffer) regions. N isthe number of the logical channels, and pieces of report informationabout the logical channels can be carried by D1 to DN, respectively. Asthe value of N, the number M of the buffers for retransmission can beused, or a part of the M pieces of information can be alternatively usedand assigned. In a case when a part of the M pieces of information isused, when data are actually transmitted from a transmit buffer for eachlogical channel, the amount-of-data information about the buffer can becarried by a report information region. TSN (Transmission SequenceNumber) is a sequence number to correctly rearrange data in turn and tooutput them from the lower layer to the upper layer at the time ofreception in the base station 103. SID(Size ID)1 to SIDk are indexeseach indicating the length of a plurality of MAC-e SDUs with anidentical bit number when transmitting them at a time. N1 to Nk arenumbers each indicating how many MAC-e SDUs of the same SID are runningcontiguously. F1 to Fk-1 are flags each indicating that the MAC-e header(MAC-e header) continues. Padding is a bit which is added in order tomake the length of the MAC-e PDU be equal to an integral multiple of 8bits. opt shows optional specifications. In the MAC-e, the whole ofMAC-e SDU is called MAC-e payload.

As shown in the figure, the plurality of report information regions D1to DN are multiplexed into the header area (MAC-e header) of the MCA-ePDU. The format of the MAC-e PDU and the definition of the parametersare defined by the written standard TS25.321, but the order of thefields of the MAC-e header is not limited to the example shown in thefigure.

The following method of using the VF value can provided, for example.

In the example shown in (b) of the figure, a case in which VF is used asan identifier indicating the version of the release of the writtenstandard is shown. Because this example can support any future change inthe format, while backward compatibility (Backward compatibility) can beensured even when a base station 103 which complies with only a releaseof the written standard in which E-DCH is newly added, and another basestation 103 which complies with a subsequent release coexist in thecommunications system, the example can also support a future extensionto the standard.

The example shown in (c) shows a case in which VF is used as anidentifier indicating whether the report information (TRbuffer) ismultiplexed into the MAC-e PDU. In this example, in a case in whichthere is no large change in the amount of data of the transmit bufferand new report information (TRbuffer) is not transmitted to the basestation 103, the length of the MAC-e PDU can be varied and the number oftransmission bits can be shortened. As a result, the communicationoverhead produced in the communication cycle for the scheduling can bereduced, and the interference of communications in the uplink can bereduced.

The example shown in (d) shows a case in which the VF value is expressedas a number of two or more bits, and is used as an identifier indicatingthe description of the report information (TRbuffer). For example, inthis embodiment 1, because information about the amounts of dataorganized according to logical channels currently assigned to the E-DCHis transmitted to the base station 103, VF=00 is used. In this example,because a plurality of kinds of descriptions of the report information(TRbuffer) can be provided, a kind of report information which is themost effective for the communications system, which a carrier or a basestation manufacturer employs, can be used.

Furthermore, by dividing the bits representing VF into parts and usingthese parts, it is also possible to provide an identifier which is acombination of the above-mentioned examples (b), (c), and (d).

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing another example of the format of the MAC-ePDU.

This format differs from the format shown in FIG. 14 in that a parameterP is added to the tail end of the report information (TRbuffer). In thisembodiment 1, the parameter P indicates a total transmission power value(an absolute value) of the mobile station. As an alternative, a powervalue (an absolute value) of the DPCCH 106 can be used instead of thetotal transmission power value (an absolute value). Because the basestation 103 can measure a quantity showing an uplink communicationenvironment (for example, a propagation attenuation: Path Loss) by usingthis format, the base station can carry out the scheduling moreefficiently by using the information for the scheduling.

The value of the parameter P can show another status measurementparameter of the mobile station 102 which is described in relation tostep ST200 of FIG. 12. The use of two or more pieces of mobile stationinformation at the time when the base station 103 performs thescheduling operation makes it possible to make the scheduling moreeffective. As an alternative, the format with the parameter P andanother format without the parameter P can be transmitted at differentreport timings. In a case of, for example, notifying power informationto a base station 103 which can use only a format without the parameterP, a report information region D is used and transmitted instead of theamount-of-data information. The status information about the power ismeasured by the physical layer control unit 204, is notified to theMAC-e unit 605 in the form of control information (PHYcont and MACcont)or primitive, and is transmitted to the base station 103 after beingprocessed by the physical layer control unit 204.

In FIGS. 14 and 15, the order and positions of the plurality of reportinformation regions D1 to DN and power information region P are notlimited to the example shown. However, because they can be processedcollectively by the MAC-e unit 605 by making them be adjacent to oneanther, the structure of the processing apparatus can be simplified.

In FIGS. 14 and 15, when error correction processing is performed on thewhole or a part of the MAC-e header (for example, the report informationregions D1 to DN and power information region P), transmission errorscan be reduced.

Furthermore, because the mobile station 102 can be identified by thebase station 103 by forming a mobile station identification information(UE ID) field in the MAC-e header or incorporating the mobile stationidentification information (UE ID) into the whole or a part of the MAC-eheader, transmission of data from the mobile station 102 can be carriedout on a common link, and more efficient utilization of the radioresource can be carried out.

In addition, when the length of the MAC-e PDU is made variable, it isnot necessary to add the overhead bit (Padding) to the tail end of theMAC-e PDU. Because a DSP, a gate array, etc. are used to give a higherpriority to an improvement in the processing speed when the media accesscontrol unit 203 is implemented, the amount of processing of the mobilestation 102 can be reduced by shortening the length of the MAC-e PDU.

Furthermore, the length of the MAC-e PDU is made variable, and, when thelogical channels which are reported as report information are few innumber, the length of each of the report information regions D1 to DNcan be shortened. In this case, an identification number (expressed asC/T in the written standard) identifying a logical channel can be addedto each of the report information regions D1 to DN.

As mentioned above, in accordance with embodiment 1, becauseyet-to-be-transmitted data information of the mobile station 102 ismultiplexed, as report information (TRbuffer), into the MAC-e header ofMAC-e PDU and is transmitted to the base station 103, a high-speednotification of the yet-to-be-transmitted data amount information fromthe mobile station 102 to the base station 103 can be carried out. As aresult, because the uplink radio resource control (scheduling) can becarried out in the base station 103 and higher-speed control can becarried out as compared with the radio resource control by the basestation control apparatus 104, the efficiency of the communicationssystem is further improved and the throughput of the whole cell isimproved.

Furthermore, because the yet-to-be-transmitted data information asstatus information of the mobile station 102 is directly transmitted tothe base station 103 without being via the base station controlapparatus 104, high-speed high-frequency transmission can be carriedout, and the efficiency of the uplink radio resource control by the basestation 103 is further improved and the throughput of the whole cell isimproved.

The need for the transfer of the amount-of-data information from thebase station control apparatus 104 to the base station 103 can beeliminated, and the traffic from the base station control apparatus 104to the base station 103 can be reduced.

Furthermore, because the report information is multiplexed with upperlayer data (MAC-e SDU) and transmitted via DPDCH, it is not necessary toensure a dedicated channel (code for channel separation) in order tonotify the status information about the status of the mobile station 102to the base station 103. When two or more channels are transmitted inparallel using many spread codes, the peak/average of the radiofrequency signal (PAR: Peak to Average Ratio) can be reduced. Therefore,the securing of the linearity in the transmitter characteristics of themobile station 102 can be eased, and therefore long-time transmissioncan be carried out.

In addition, because the information about the amounts of data organizedaccording to logical channels is notified to the base station 103, thebase station 103 which holds the logical channel information about allmobile stations can control transmission between mobile stations inconsideration of a priority assigned to the transmission between themobile stations. As a result, the uplink scheduling can be carried outmore efficiently.

In this embodiment 1, the generation of the amount-of-data report(Traffic Report) notified to base station control apparatus 104 and thegeneration of the report information (TRbuffer) to the base station 103are carried out by different processing blocks, respectively. As analternative, they can be carried out by a single block. For example, anextension of a Traffic volume measurement block which complies with thestandard specifications can be considered as such a single block.

Furthermore, DCH related information, such as DCH amount-of-datainformation (DCH LOGbuffer) from the radio link control unit 202, DCHtransmission rate information, and logical channel priority informationabout DCH data, can also be transmitted as the report information(TRbuffer). In this case, because the amount of transmission data viaDCH can be grasped even by the base station 103, the amount ofinterference by DCH can be taken into consideration when the schedulingfor E-DCH is carried out by the base station 103, and more efficientcontrol of the communications system can be carried out if it is done incooperation with the low-speed control of both channels (DCH and E-DCH)in the base station control apparatus 104. In particular, this iseffective for a case in which the transmission control of the DCHtransmission and E-DCH transmission is carried out independently andtheir priorities differ.

Embodiment 2

The structures of a mobile station and a base station side in accordancewith embodiment 2 are the same as those of embodiment 1.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the format of MAC-e PDU in accordance withembodiment 2. In the figure, (a) shows the format of the MAC-e PDU, and(b) and (c) show examples of the definition of a parameter D/C. Also inthis embodiment 2, report information (TRbuffer) is multiplexed into aMAC-e header. D/C is a flag showing whether only data is transmitted orcontrol information is also transmitted in addition to data. The otherparameters are the same as those of embodiment 1. There can be a case inwhich no MAC-e payload is transmitted. In this case, SID1 and N1 are setto zero, and only various pieces of control information for thescheduling by the base station, including the report information(TRbuffer), is transmitted as the MAC-e PDU.

In the example shown in (b), the parameter D/C is used in order to showthe presence or absence of information, such as report informationregions D1 to DN, for radio resource control in the base station 103.D/C=0 shows that there is control information in the base station, andD/C=1 shows that there is no control information in the base station. Bydefinitely placing the D/C flag at the beginning of the MAC-e header,the base station 103 can recognize the presence or absence of thecontrol information, such as the report information (TRbuffer), whenstarting receiving packet data. Because packet data is produced burstyand the base station 103 can grasp the amount of packet data receivedthereby, the transmission frequency can be reduced by transmitting thereport information only when each burst of packet data is produced. As aresult, the occurrence of uplink interference can be suppressed, and theresource can be assigned to other mobile stations 102.

In the example shown in (c), D/C=0 shows a case in which there is upperlayer data (MAC-e SDU), and D/C=1 shows a case in which is there is noupper layer data. In this case, control information, such as reportinformation (TRbuffer), is transmitted by default at the time oftransmission of every MAC-e PDU. Therefore, when the communicationoverhead caused by the report information regions (D1 to DN) is small,the status information about the status of the mobile station 102 can benotified to the base station 103 with high frequency, and the basestation 103 can perform the scheduling more effectively.

As mentioned above, in accordance with embodiment 2, becauseyet-to-be-transmitted data information of the mobile station 102 ismultiplexed, as report information (TRbuffer), into the MAC-e header ofMAC-e PDU and is transmitted to the base station 103, a high-speednotification of the yet-to-be-transmitted data amount information fromthe mobile station 102 to the base station 103 can be carried out. As aresult, because the uplink radio resource control (scheduling) can becarried out in the base station 103 and higher-speed control can becarried out as compared with the radio resource control by the basestation control apparatus 104, the efficiency of the communicationssystem is further improved and the throughput of the whole cell isimproved.

Furthermore, because the yet-to-be-transmitted data information isdirectly transmitted to the base station 103 without being via the basestation control apparatus 104, high-speed high-frequency transmissioncan be carried out, and the efficiency of the uplink radio resourcecontrol by the base station 103 is further improved and the throughputof the whole cell is improved.

In addition, by disposing the D/C parameter in the MAC-e header of theMAC-e PDU, the format length of the MAC-e PDU can be shortened andtherefore the communication overhead can be reduced when there is noupper layer data.

In this embodiment 2, the report information regions (D1 to DN) areplaced in the MAC-e header. Because the base station 103 can recognizethe existence of the control information, such as the report information(TRbuffer), using the D/C parameter when starting receiving packet data,it is possible to arrange the report information regions (D1 to DN)behind MAC-e SDU, and in this case it is not necessary to providePadding.

As in the case of embodiment 1, DCH related information, such asamount-of-data information (DCH LOGbuffer) from the radio link controlunit 202, DCH can also be transmitted as the report information(TRbuffer). In this case, because the amount of transmission data viaDCH can be grasped even by the base station 103, the amount ofinterference by DCH can be taken into consideration when the schedulingfor E-DCH is carried out by the base station 103, and more efficientcontrol of the communications system can be carried out if it is done incooperation with the control of both the low-speed channels (DCH andE-DCH) in the base station control apparatus 104.

Embodiment 3

The structures of a mobile station and a base station side in accordancewith embodiment 3 are the same as those of embodiment 1.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the format of MAC-e PDU in accordance withembodiment 3. Also in this embodiment 3, report information (TRbuffer)is multiplexed into a MAC-e header.

In the figure, EF is a flag indicating that a combination of parametersincluding QueueID to N placed before EF is repeated behind EF. The otherparameters are the same as those of embodiments 1 and 2.

In embodiment 3, the amounts of data organized according to buffers forretransmission shown by QueueID1 to QueueIDM, as well as the amounts ofdata organized according to logical channels, are notified to the basestation 103.

As shown in the figure, by combining amount-of-data information andpieces of MAC-e SDU data information (SID, N, and F) to be transmittedand multiplexing them into the header for each buffer forretransmission, the need for providing different buffer IDs to theamount-of-data information and MAC-e SDU data is eliminated.

Furthermore, because data stored in a plurality of buffers forretransmission having different priorities can be multiplexed into thesame MAC-e PDU and can be transmitted at a time by carrying a pluralityof buffer IDs in the MAC-e PDU, the data stored in each buffer forretransmission can be transmitted efficiently in a case in which theamount of data stored in each buffer is small.

As mentioned above, in accordance with embodiment 3, becauseyet-to-be-transmitted data information of the mobile station 102 ismultiplexed, as report information (TRbuffer), into the MAC-e header ofMAC-e PDU and is transmitted to the base station 103, a high-speednotification of the yet-to-be-transmitted data amount information fromthe mobile station 102 to the base station 103 can be carried out. As aresult, because the uplink radio resource control (scheduling) can becarried out in the base station 103 and higher-speed control can becarried out as compared with the radio resource control by the basestation control apparatus 104, the efficiency of the communicationssystem is further improved and the throughput of the whole cell isimproved.

Furthermore, because the yet-to-be-transmitted data information isdirectly transmitted to the base station 103 without being via the basestation control apparatus 104, high-speed high-frequency transmissioncan be carried out, and the efficiency of the uplink radio resourcecontrol by the base station 103 is further improved and the throughputof the whole cell is improved.

Because the mobile station 102 transmits the report information for eachbuffer for retransmission to the base station 103, the base station 103can carry out the scheduling in consideration of the priority assignedto the yet-to-be-transmitted data of each mobile station 102 and cantherefore carry out radio resource management more efficiently. Becausereport information about logical channels having the same priority isstored in the same buffer for retransmission, the provision of theinformation about the amounts of data organized according to buffers forretransmission can reduce the bit number required for the reportinformation and can also reduce the amount of uplink interference.

In accordance with this embodiment 3, the report information for eachbuffer for retransmission which is used for E-DCH is transmitted.However, amount-of-data information (DCH LOGbuffer) from the radio linkcontrol unit 202 can also be transmitted as the report information. Inthis case, a part of the MAC-e PDU can be so constructed as to have aformat according to embodiment 1 or 2. As a result, because the amountof transmission data via DCH can be grasped even by the base station103, the amount of interference by DCH can be taken into considerationwhen the scheduling for E-DCH is carried out by the base station 103,and more efficient control of the communications system can be carriedout if it is done in cooperation with the low-speed control of bothchannels (DCH and E-DCH) in the base station control apparatus 104.

Embodiment 4

The structures of a mobile station and a base station side in accordancewith embodiment 4 are the same as those of embodiment 1.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the format of MAC-e PDU in accordance withembodiment 4. In the figure, (a) shows the format of the MAC-e PDU, and(b) shows an example of the definition of a parameter PDU type. Theformat of the MAC-e PDU in accordance with embodiment 4 is intended forcommunications between MAC-es for transmitting control information, suchas report information (TRbuffer). This format is also applicable to anotification of control information from the base station 103 to themobile station 102, and so on, and can be used for not only a reportabout the amount-of-data information but also for general purposes.

The parameter PDU type is a parameter used for distinguishing the format(type) of the MAC-e PDU. The other parameters are the same as those ofembodiment 1. As shown in FIG. 16 of embodiment 2, the D/C parameter isset to a value indicating that control information is included.

The MAC-e PDU format in accordance with the embodiment 4 is the same asthat of STATUS PDU which is one of RLC PDU formats according to theconventional standard.

As shown in the figure (b), in accordance with embodiment 4, three bitsare used for a region of PDU type.

PDU type=000 shows a case where the MAC-e PDU includes statusinformation (STATUS) about the status of the mobile station 102 which isnotified from the mobile station 102 directly to the base station 103,in addition to the report information (TRbuffer). For example, in a casein which data is transmitted from an external device (TE: TerminalEquipment) connected to the mobile station 102 to an external network,it is possible that the mobile station 102 acquires status informationabout the status of the external device (TE) in order to carry outtransmission control (what is called flow control), and notifies thestatus information to the base station 103.

PDU type=001 is used for a case in which a reception destinationinitializes status information about the status of a transmissionsource. In this case, the format can also be used for a notificationfrom the base station 103 to the mobile station 102, as well as for anotification from the mobile station 102 to the base station 103.Because a method of making a notification from the base station 103 tothe mobile station 102 is implemented by interchanging the operation ofthe base station 103 with that of the mobile station 102, theexplanation of the method will be omitted hereafter.

PDU type=010 is used for a case of making a notification (RESET ACK)showing that reset is completed in response to a reset request. Also inthis case, the format can also be used for a notification from the basestation 103 to the mobile station 102, as well as for a notificationfrom the mobile station 102 to the base station 103.

PDU type=011 is used for a case of transmitting status information(MAC-e STATUS) about the status of the mobile station 102. In this case,the status information is notified from the mobile station 102 to thebase station 103. Another PDU type value shows that it is not used(Reserve) in a release in which E-DCH is introduced, for example.

The transmission of the MAC-e PDU in accordance with this embodiment 4is made a higher priority than the transmission of those according toembodiments 1 to 3.

As mentioned above, in accordance with embodiment 4, becauseyet-to-be-transmitted data information of the mobile station 102 ismultiplexed, as report information (TRbuffer), into the MAC-e header ofMAC-e PDU and is transmitted to the base station 103, a high-speednotification of the yet-to-be-transmitted data amount information fromthe mobile station 102 to the base station 103 can be carried out. As aresult, because the uplink radio resource control (scheduling) can becarried out in the base station 103 and higher-speed control can becarried out as compared with the radio resource control by the basestation control apparatus 104, the efficiency of the communicationssystem is further improved and the throughput of the whole cell isimproved.

Furthermore, because the yet-to-be-transmitted data information isdirectly transmitted to the base station 103 without being via the basestation control apparatus 104, high-speed high-frequency transmissioncan be carried out, and the efficiency of the uplink radio resourcecontrol by the base station 103 is further improved and the throughputof the whole cell is improved.

In addition, because the use of the PDU type parameter makes it possibleto notify not only the report information (TRbuffer) about the mobilestation 102 but also various pieces of status information and controlinformation about the mobile station 102, more efficient uplink controlcan be carried out.

Because the MAC-e PDU format in accordance with embodiment 4 is the sameas the format of STATUS PDU which is one of RLC PDU formats according tothe conventional standard, it is not necessary to define independently aformat for use in the radio link control unit 202 and a format for usein the media access control unit 203. For this reason, because a PDUgeneration processing circuit and so on can be shared, the structure ofthe mobile station can be simplified.

According to embodiment 4, pieces of information (STATUS, RESET, andRESET ACK) for use in the radio link control unit 202 can also benotified to the base station 103, as well as to the base station controlapparatus 104. As a result, because the information which the basestation control apparatus 104 uses can also be used for the radioresource control by the base station 103, the scheduling can be carriedout more effectively.

In accordance with this embodiment 4, the format intended for thecontrol information is defined. However, it is also possible to transmitthe data (MAC-e SDU) instead of the report information (D1 to DN) in thesame format by definitely setting the D/C parameter to a valueindicating that it is data information.

Furthermore, in accordance with embodiment 4, while the reportinformation (D1 to DN) and other mobile station status information aredistinguished with PDU type, as previously mentioned, a furtherdifference can be introduced.

Embodiment 5

The structures of a mobile station and a base station side in accordancewith embodiment 5 are the same as those of embodiment 1.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the format of MAC-e PDU in accordance withembodiment 5. In the figure, (a) shows the format of the MAC-e PDU, and(b) shows the format of piggyback PDU. In this embodiment 5, thepiggyback PDU, as well as Padding (opt), is added to the tail end of theMAC-e PDU.

In the figure (b), R2 is a substitute for the D/C parameter in the MAC-ePDU, and is not used in this embodiment 5. The other parameters are thesame as those of embodiment 4.

In a case of adding a report information field to data (MAC-e SDU) andtransmitting this data, the D/C parameter of the MAC-e PDU is set to“with control information”, as shown in FIG. 16 of embodiment 2.Simultaneously, as shown in FIG. 18 of embodiment 4, 011 is used as thePDU type parameter, and, when receiving MAC-e PDU having another value,the base station 103 determines that its piggyback PDU is invalid, anddiscards the MAC-e PDU.

The transmission of MAC-e PDU to which piggyback PDU in accordance withthis embodiment 5 is added is made a higher priority than that of MAC-ePDU having only data to be transmitted. In this case, MAC-e PDU can betransmitted without MAC-e SDU.

As mentioned above, in accordance with embodiment 5, becauseyet-to-be-transmitted data information of the mobile station 102 ismultiplexed, as report information (TRbuffer), into the MAC-e header ofMAC-e PDU and is transmitted to the base station 103, a high-speednotification of the yet-to-be-transmitted data amount information fromthe mobile station 102 to the base station 103 can be carried out. As aresult, because the uplink radio resource control (scheduling) can becarried out in the base station 103 and higher-speed control can becarried out as compared with the radio resource control by the basestation control apparatus 104, the efficiency of the communicationssystem is further improved and the throughput of the whole cell isimproved.

Furthermore, because the yet-to-be-transmitted data information isdirectly transmitted to the base station 103 without being via the basestation control apparatus 104, high-speed high-frequency transmissioncan be carried out, and the efficiency of the uplink radio resourcecontrol by the base station 103 is further improved and the throughputof the whole cell is improved.

In addition, because it is possible to transmit the report informationin a dedicated format if needed, a transmission setup different fromthat for transmission of upper layer data can be performed. Furthermore,because the format intended only for mobile station status informationis defined, it is not necessary to define two or more formats as MAC-ePDU and therefore the processing performed by the mobile station 102 andthat performed by the base station 103 can be simplified.

In addition, according to the embodiment 5, plural pieces of information(STATUS, RESET, RESET ACK) which the radio link control unit 202 usescan also be used and notified to the base station 103, as well as to thebase station control apparatus 104. As a result, the scheduling can becarried out more effectively because these pieces of information canalso be used for the radio resource control by the base station 103.

Because the MAC-e PDU format in accordance with embodiment 5 is the sameas the format of piggyback PDU which is one of RLC PDU formats accordingto the conventional standard, it is not necessary to defineindependently a format for use in the radio link control unit 202 and aformat for use in the media access control unit 203. For this reason,because a processing circuit and so on can be shared in view of theimplementation of the mobile station 102, the structure of the mobilestation can be simplified.

In this embodiment 5, although the PDU type parameter is set to 011,this setting can be selected arbitrarily. The PDU type parameter is notlimited to the value of this embodiment when standards are defined.

Furthermore, in this embodiment 5, although data information for eachlogical channel is used as the report information, data information foreach logical channel priority, data information for each buffer forretransmission, other status information about mobile stations, or thelike can be used as the report information.

The format of STATUS PDU in accordance with embodiment 4, and that ofpiggyback PDU in accordance with embodiment 5 can be used not only for areport sent from the mobile station 102 to the base station 103, butalso for a notification of the scheduling result sent from the basestation 103 to the mobile station 102. In this case, a field in which atransmission specified time, an allowable maximum transmission rate, andso on are written is disposed instead of the field used for notificationof the report information, and various pieces of mobile stationtransmission control information which are disclosed in nonpatentreferences 1 and 2 can be carried at the time of notification.

In embodiments 4 and 5, it is assumed that data informationcorresponding to E-DCH is measured by the MAC-e unit 605 and ismultiplexed, as a part of the MAC-e header, into MAC-e PDU. As in thecase of using the Traffic volume measurement function which complieswith the conventional standards, when data information corresponding toE-DCH is measured by the MAC-d unit, it can also be multiplexed as apart of the MAC-d PDU header. In this case, as shown in FIG. 20, thecontrol information multiplexing unit 610 is mounted in the MAC-d unit603.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a flow of a setup of conditions on themeasurement of the report information (TRbuffer) or a report about themeasurement, the report information being exchanged among the mobilestation 102, base station 103, and base station control apparatus 104 inaccordance with either of embodiments 1 to 5. These exchange processesare carried out prior to actual data transmission processing for thecommunication services or at the time of changing the communicationservice setting in the middle of transmission, and are carried out apartfrom any actual data transmission.

First, the base station 103 transmits a condition setup request command(EDCH Parameter Setup Request) to the base station control apparatus 104(in step ST901). At this time, parameters notified to the base stationcontrol apparatus include a measurement timing period, and report timingconditions (Periodic or Event trigger, a report threshold, etc.), forexample. When restrictions are imposed on DCH with the E-DCH setup,various setup conditions related to DCH can be transmitted together.

In the base station 103, the MAC-e unit 1220 generates a condition setuprequest, and the media access control unit 1203 outputs the request tothe radio resource control unit 1206 of the base station controlapparatus 104 as control information (MACcont). An exchange of varioustypes of information between the base station 103 and the base stationcontrol apparatus 104 is called NBAP signaling (NBAP signaling), andwill be defined by, for example, the written standard TS25.433. The NBAPsignaling information is transmitted via cable communications using acable, such as a coaxial cable.

Next, the base station control apparatus 104 notifies a report conditionsetup request (EDCH Parameter Setup Request) to the mobile station 102(in step ST902).

An exchange of various types of information between the mobile station103 and the base station control apparatus 102 is called RRC signaling(RRC signaling), and will be defined by, for example, the writtenstandard TS25.331.

The operation of the base station side in step ST902 will be explained.

First, the setup request is outputted to the radio link control unit1202 from the radio resource control unit 1206 as control information(RLCcont). Next, it is outputted from the radio link control unit 1202to the MAC-d unit 1221 as DCCH data.

In the MAC-d unit 1221, it then becomes DCH data, and is outputted tothe physical layer control unit 1204. Next, it becomes DPDCH (DCH) datain the physical layer control unit 1204, and is transmitted by radiofrom the antenna 1205 to the mobile station 102.

The operation of the mobile station 102 in step ST902 will be explained.

The mobile station 102 receives the radio signal via the antenna 205.After the radio signal is subjected to demodulating and demultiplexingprocesses by the physical layer control unit 204, the DCCH data isacquired by the MAC-d unit 602 and is outputted to the receive buffer501 b of the radio link control unit 202. Next, it is outputted from thereceive buffer 501 b to the radio resource control unit 206 by way ofthe RLC control unit 503.

Next, the mobile station 102 carries out a setup (Configuration orReconfiguration) of operating conditions on the basis of the setupinformation, and, when completing the setup, notifies the completion ofthe setup to the base station control apparatus 104 (in step ST903).

The operation of the mobile station 102 in step ST903 will be explained.

The radio resource control unit 206 stores the setup information whichis requested thereof in the MAC control unit 607 as control information(MACcont). The radio resource control unit also issues an instruction tothe MAC-e unit 605 of the media access control unit 203 to carry out asetup of operating conditions.

When grasping that the setup of operating conditions is completed, theMAC control unit 607 notifies the radio resource control unit 206, ascontrol information (MACcont), that it has grasped that the setup ofoperating conditions is completed.

Next, the radio resource control unit 206 of the mobile station 102notifies completion information (Setup Complete) indicating that it hasincorporated the setup information into the mobile station 102 to thebase station control apparatus 104 via the base station 103 using RRCsignaling.

Because the other operation of the mobile station is done in reverseorder to that of step ST902, the detailed explanation of the otheroperation will be omitted.

Next, the base station control apparatus 104 notifies the completioninformation (Setup Complete) indicating that the mobile station 102 hasincorporated the setup information thereinto to the base station 103using NBAP signaling (in step ST904). Because this operation of the basestation control apparatus is done in reverse order to that of stepST901, the detailed explanation of the operation will be omitted.

The completion information indicating that the mobile station 102 hasincorporated the setup information thereinto is notified from the radioresource control unit 1206 of the base station control apparatus 104 tothe radio link control unit 1202 and media access control unit 1203.

Next, the media access control unit 1203 of the base station 103notifies information (ACK) indicating that the base station 103 hasrecognized the completion of the setup by the mobile station 102 to thebase station control apparatus 104 using NBAP signaling (in step ST905).

Because this operation of the base station is the same as that of stepST901, the detailed explanation of the operation will be omitted.

In accordance with conventional technologies, RRC signaling istransmitted and received using DCCH and DCH. However, whencommunications using E-DCH are being carried out, RRC signaling can becarries out using E-DCH.

Furthermore, when the condition setup request is notified from the basestation control apparatus 104 to the mobile station 102, aCMAC-Measure-REQ command which is a parameter setup command defined bythe conventional standards can be extended and used, for example, and aparameter only for E-DCH report condition setup can be addedindependently.

In this case, the backward compatibility and expandability of thecommand are ensured by adding a version display parameter (or a flag)showing the version of the standards to the CMAC-Measure-REQ command.

Furthermore, the use of the same command as that according to theconventional standards can simplify the structure of the apparatus.

In the flow shown in FIG. 21, exchanges of information between themobile station 102 and the base station control apparatus 104 andexchanges of information between the base station 103 and the basestation control apparatus 104 can be carried out independently.

Embodiment 6

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a flow of transmission of STATUS PDUexchanged between radio link control unit of a base station controlapparatus 104 and those of a mobile station 102 in accordance withembodiment 6.

STATUS PDU for use in between radio link control units (RLC) whichcomply with the conventional standards is transmitted by a receive side(Receiver) which receives data (RLC PDU), i.e., a base station side inthe uplink. In accordance with embodiment 6, a transmit side (Sender)which transmits data, i.e., the mobile station transmits data to thebase station (Receiver) to notify the status of the mobile station(Sender) to the base station.

Report information from a MAC-e unit 605 (TRbuffer) is notified from amedia access control unit 203 to the radio link control unit 202 usingcontrol information (MACcont and RLCcont), and is then notified to thebase station 103 via the base station control apparatus 104 ascommunication information data transmitted between the radio linkcontrol units 202.

Because the transmission-and-reception operation of the mobile stationis the same as that of the flow shown in FIG. 21 in which the processdone via the radio resource control unit (RRC) is omitted, the detailedexplanation of the transmission-and-reception operation will be omitted.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing the structure of the media accesscontrol unit 203 of the mobile station in accordance with embodiment 6.The media access control unit 203 of this embodiment differs from themedia access control unit 203 of the mobile station 102 of embodiment 1in that the report information (TRbuffer) is also outputted from theMAC-e unit 605 to a MAC control unit 607.

The report information (TRbuffer) inputted to the MAC control unit 607is outputted from the MAC control unit 607 to a radio resource controlunit 206 as control information (MACcont), and is further transferred tothe radio link control unit 202. Next, in the radio link control unit202, it becomes DCCH data, and is notified from the mobile station 102to the base station control apparatus 104 via the base station 103. Theradio link control unit 1202 of the base station control apparatus 104decodes the STATUS PDU, and notifies it to the base station 103 usingNBAP signaling. The method of NBAP signaling is not limited to aspecific one. Because the method of transmitting data from the mobilestation 102 to the base station 103 is the same as that of the flowshown in FIG. 21, the detailed explanation of the method will beomitted.

In this embodiment 6, the report information (TRbuffer) can be dividedinto two kinds of information. For example, one of them can betransmitted and received via the radio link control unit at long-timeintervals, and the other one can be transmitted and received atshort-time intervals with MAC-e PDU. As an alternative, the absolutevalue of the report information (TRbuffer) which is one of them can betransmitted and received via the radio link control unit, and increaseor decrease information (Up/Down) which is the other one can betransmitted and received at short-time intervals with MAC-e PDU. Intowhat kinds of information the report information (TRbuffer) is dividedis not limited to this example. When the report information (TRbuffer)is transmitted to the base station 103 via communications between theradio link control units, either of STATUS PDU and piggyback PDU can beused.

When transferring the report information to the base station controlapparatus 104 via the base station 103, the base station 103 can decodethe description of the report information independently.

As mentioned above, because the mobile station 102 can temporarilytransfer the report information to the radio link control unit, and cannotify the absolute value of the report information (TRbuffer) to thebase station 103 via communications between the radio link controlunits, synchronization between the report information value of themobile station 102 and that of the base station 103 can be achieved andtherefore occurrence of packet transmission errors due to inconsistencyin setups can be prevented. Because the length of MAC-e PDU can beshortened by transmitting only the increase or decrease information withMAC-e PDU, the overhead can be reduced.

Because packet data is produced bursty and the base station 103 cangrasp the amount of packet data received thereby, the transmissionfrequency can be reduced by transmitting the report information onlywhen each burst of packet data is produced. As a result, the occurrenceof uplink interference can be suppressed, and the resource can beassigned to other mobile stations 102.

Furthermore, because an absolute value having a large bit number doesnot need to be notified at a high frequency with MAC-e PDU, the overheadof MAC-e PDU can be reduced and therefore the occurrence of uplinkinterference can be reduced.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As mentioned above, the mobile station in accordance with the presentinvention is suitable for a notification of transmission datainformation about the mobile station which is needed for radio resourcecontrol for uplink by the base station directly to the base station at ahigh speed.

1: A mobile station comprising: a radio link control unit that outputsor inputs data which are transmitted to or received from a base stationvia a radio channel to or from a higher-level protocol layer; a mediaaccess control unit that outputs or inputs said data via a logicalchannel to or from said radio link control unit; and a radio resourcecontrol unit that controls the radio link control unit and the mediaaccess control unit, wherein a reported timing information which hasbeen transmitted from the base station, is transmitted, and the mediaaccess control unit multiplexes report information to be transmitted tothe base station into a channel for packet data transmission andtransmits the report information to the base station. 2: A base stationcomprising: a radio link controller that outputs or inputs data whichare transmitted to or received from a mobile station via a radio channelto or from a higher-level protocol layer; a media access controller thatoutputs or inputs said data via a logical channel to or from said radiolink control unit; and a radio resource control unit that controls theradio link control unit and the media access control unit, wherein areported timing information is transmitted to the mobile station, andthe media access control unit carries out assignment of radio resourcesby using report information which has been multiplexed into datatransmitted via a channel for packet data transmission from said mobilestation. 3: A communications system comprising: a base station; and amobile station that includes a radio link control unit that outputs orinputs data which are transmitted or received via a radio channel to orfrom a higher-level protocol layer, a media access control unit thatoutputs or inputs said data via a logical channel to or from said radiolink control unit, and a radio resource control unit that controls theradio link control unit and the media access control unit, wherein thebase station transmits a reported timing information to the mobilestation, wherein said mobile station multiplexes report information intoa channel for packet data transmission and transmits the reportinformation to the base station, and wherein said base station carriesout assignment of radio resources by using the report informationtransmitted from said mobile station.